BBC three months behind on Olympics intelligent video player

The broadcasting company wanted a working version to test by 31 December 2011

The BBC is three months behind on procuring an intelligent video player that is set to be used throughout the Olympic Games this summer.

In a notice that went out in June last year the broadcasting giant highlighted the need for a third party to build, provision and support an intelligent video player that could be used to cover all aspects of the Olympics.

The notice made particular reference to the BBC needing a working version of the player by 31 December 2011 in order to test on suitable sporting events ahead of the games, and claimed that if this did not happen it would “face a large integration job very late in the delivery…and may miss the opportunity to identify and fix performance issues along the way”.

However, it has been revealed that the BBC has only just awarded the contract to a UK company called DeltaTre Media this week, putting it at least three months behind its testing schedule.

Related:

The Olympic Games begin on 27 July in London, meaning that the BBC now has under four months to test the video player, compared with almost seven months as was originally intended.

Computerworld UK contacted the BBC to ask whether sufficient testing would be carried out and was told that all digital services would be delivered on time, but it could not comment on the specifics of this procurement.

“We will be offering a wide range of digital services to audiences during the Olympics, and video is an important part of our plans. We are at an advanced stage of development and are on track to both test and deliver our digital services ahead of the Games,” said a spokesperson for the BBC.

The precise value of the deal is unknown, but the original notice suggests that the video player could cost the BBC up to £300,000.

We have been hearing for years how CIOs and senior IT professionals need to bury the hatchet with line of business managers and, instead of focusing on the latest bleeding-edge technology for its own sake, seek to better understand the overall strategic objectives of their organisations.